Caught In The Middle
by 32457231
Summary: Anna Maguire tries to keep up the facade she is tough, just like her brothers. But as she is dragged into the middle of something terrible, her facade is quickly forgotten. Finding comfort in Don Flack, she soon realises shes falling for him. Don Flack/OC
1. Introduction

Caught in the Middle  
Introduction – Lost in the Moment

It wasn't the dank confines of the room that terrified her. It wasn't the muscular man who stood guarding the heavily bolted door. And it wasn't the blood that had drenched her once crisp white blouse.

No, what scared Anna the most was the wielder of the eight inch silver blade. He was scrawny, but with a menacing face. His hair was jet black, greasy and his fringe was long enough to cover his left eye, plunging most of his face into shadow. Anna wrapped her uninjured arm around her stomach, covering the wound to her abdomen. He was torturing her, and she knew it. Anna just couldn't understand why.

It all had started two weeks earlier…

Rain pelted the windows of Lenox Hill Hospital. Anna Maguire had just begun her night shift working on the accident and emergency ward. It was nights like these, when more and more patients were being admitted every other minute and doctors on call were unlikely to sleep till morning, that Anna was thankfull she was only a nurse. She had less responsibility but the satisfaction of helping patients.

"I swear to God, if one more person walks through that door, I may just kill myself" Dr. Rhodes complained, wiping his forehead with the sleeve of his white jacket. "There's just too many patients for how many Doctors are here."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"We just discharged Mrs Jenson. The bed could do with changing before the inevitable happens and another patient comes rushing in here."

Anna nodded and smiled, "Just remembers Jamie, you love your job. You love helping people. And you love saving lives. Just thinking of that should get you through the night." Jamie smiled and grabbed his clipboard from the nurses' station counter before rushing off to another private room to check up on a patient. Anna stood for a second to watch her friend leave, before leaving herself to carry out the job he'd asked.

Anna was small. Many people made fun of her five foot one height, but she always laughed it off. Her hair was almost flame red, which was mistaken for a dyed style. Her hair was, and had always been its natural colour. She'd learned to love her unusual colour. Pin straight and down to the bottom of her shoulder blades, she often wore it up to avoid getting annoyed at its length. Her skin was fair, and her eyes a deep sapphire. Anyone could see she was attractive. However, she often isolated herself from relationships.

When she was merely four years old, her father died when the family bar was robbed by armed men. Anna, and her two older brothers then had to go through the torture of their mother grieving, before finally trying to find some self-worth by dating several unusual and horrible men. Since that time, Anna always believed there was only one person who could make you happy enough to want to spend the rest of her life with them. And that the person who could make her that happy would come to her without searching through countless men who would break her heart or treat her badly.

Evidently, her mother's search had led her to leaving the family when Anna was nine. It was then her brothers Shane and Brandon's job to look after her and provide to make sure none of them ended up on the street. Brandon being the eldest, and thirteen years older than Anna was old enough to be granted custody of her. Thankfully, this stopped social services taking Anna away.

Entering room 261, the room were Mrs Jenson had been stationed; Anna began to take the linen off the bed and pile it into a heap to be taken for cleaning and sterilizing. Sometimes, she regretted agreeing to some jobs. The sheets could be soaked in blood from emergency patients, or worse could be found between the cotton linen. Thankfully, tonight it was almost as clean as when it went on the bed.

Don Flack, a Homicide Detective for the NYPD cradled his arm carefully while sat in the waiting room of the A&E department. He cursed himself for chasing the suspect down the garbage ridden alley and over a rusty metal fence that stopped cars from using the passage as a short cut. Pulling back his sleeve, he grimaced at the large cut that ran the length of his forearm. Don knew stitches would be needed. And, anyone who knew the detective well knew he hated Hospitals. The smell, the instruments and the waiting; Don could have made a list the length of his arm about what he hated about hospitals.

He was too hyped up on adrenaline to see the dangers where he was going. He'd run through traffic. He'd climb fire escapes. He'd even follow suspects through other people's apartments just to catch whoever he was chasing. But as he climbed the large, metal fence, Don had lost his footing and caught his arm on a rusty spike that had come away from the fence.

"Donald Flack, how the hell have you got yourself into my neck of the woods again?"

Don chuckled to himself, looking up to lock eyes with Anna, his best friend Shane's sister. She had a stern face, but her eyes where ridden with worry. "It's nothin' much. I'll be out of your sight before you know it."

"…Don." Her warning tone was a hint for the detective to give a proper explanation.

And Don, the stubborn Homicide Detective from Queens who would face any criminal that crossed him, was not one to argue with twenty-eight year old Anna Maguire. He had better chances surviving open fire from twenty men, than coming off in tact after arguing with a Maguire. "I was chasing a suspect. I caught my arm on a spike of a fence. It's not a big deal."

"I'll go see if a doctor has some free time just to check you over. If you need stitches then I can do that, no problem."

Don tried to keep a solemn face as he nodded, but really wanted to break out into a grin. He was more than grateful to know someone in A&E that could help him jump queues and get him out sooner. He hated hospitals ever since his long recovery from a bomb at one of his crime scenes. "Thanks Kiddo."

Hearing Don's last remark, Anna shook her head. Just because her eldest brother Brandon had adopted the nickname, which her father had mainly used, shortly after taking custody of her, didn't mean she enjoyed everyone using the patronizing term.

* * *

The bar was quieter than usual. A few regulars had turned up to have a quiet drink while contemplating their worries of the day. And a few guys had turned up to have a marathon snooker tournament between there group.

After working a thirteen hour night shift the previous evening had pulled herself out of the apartment which was situated over Maguire's to have a drink and relax before starting her continuous week of working days at Lenox Hill. She also knew at some point in the night she would have to go over the scribbled lists that her brother had made to make an order to be delivered on Friday. "Where's Shane? I thought it was his night to be here."

"He took Don and that Messer guy out to a poker game at Riley's" Brandon leaned over the mahogany bar slightly to whisper, "Flack will never learn. Shane and Jason still work as a team to scam everyone out of their winnings."

"Money for us, right?"

"It's money for the bar, Anna. We're barley making profit at the moment. Melanie is doing double shifts just so we can stay on top of the bills. I'm barely getting a wage from this place. If I didn't work at the garage too, Mel and I wouldn't be able to survive." Brandon shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder how Shane copes with only having this as his job."

"By scamming people in poker games apparently." Anna remarked dryly before taking a long draught of her cider. "Guess I should start on placing that order, huh?"

"Yeah, the rough list is in the office. Cut down anything you think we'll be able to manage without for the next week."

"Can we not get a loan? You know, just to spruce the place up a bit. Maybe that will pull more punters in." Anna replied hopefully, getting off the tall bar stool. She'd not received any money from Maguire's since she was a teen and that's all the family was living off. Then, she'd had a string of part-time jobs to help pay for bills and food, and Brandon had picked up his Job at a Car Garage fitting tyres.

"No bank will lend this place money. And I'm not putting any pressure on me and Mel, especially when we're trying for a kid. It's not worth it." Brandon replied with a sorrowful tone. "If it carries on like this, we may be forced to sell the place."

"What about my savings?"

"It's not worth it, kiddo. You need your money."

Anna downed the last of her drink and shook her head in discontent. "I just don't want to see this place be run by someone else. Not after it has been in our family for so long." Brandon nodded in agreement. He too knew just how special the place was. It wasn't just a bar, it had the memories of their father and how he had spent all his money to fulfil his dream.

"I know. Just go and do that order. We'll discuss it with Shane some other time."

* * *

"You're still a dirty cheat!" Don laughed. The three lads who had spent their night at Riley's where walking to the bar while Shane mentally added up his winnings in his head. Don had folded quicker than the other two, sussing out just what the Maguire was doing, and why Shane had unexpectedly asked him to join the game. Danny Messer, a CSI who worked closely with the Homicide Detective had played till the end. He was too competitive to realise the con that was going on around him.

"Hey! If you'd carried on playing you may have won a bit back." Shane was a good looking guy. He was thirty-one and had no thought of settling down. He had dark chestnut hair and a grin that charmed all the ladies. Which, he often took advantage off to be promiscuous. "You know what, I'll take you through to the back, get out the good scotch and maybe we could have a re-match. You know, just between the three of us."

Danny smiled, but quickly voted himself out of another poker game while turning the corner to walk down the alley which led to the back door of the bar. "I'm all out of cash. Lindsay's goin' to kill me when she finds-"

Danny was cut off by a scream.

Taking a second to locate the fearsome noise, Danny was first to see two masked men attacking the youngest Maguire sibling. Rushing forward he shouted 'Hey!' mainly to distract the men and save Anna from any more beating. Shane and Don were close behind, but Danny was already chasing the attacker past the back door and down the alley way.

Shane stopped, scanning his sister for any major injuries. There were no stab wounds. No gun shot injuries. It looked as though the attackers had used nothing but bare fists. "Anna…Anna, look at me." Weakly, the younger Maguire pulled her head up to look at Shane. Her lip was bust and there was an abrasion to her cheek. She looked exhausted, most likely from trying to defend herself. "Let's get you inside."

"Shane, she needs to go to a hospital, look at her!" Don argued, having been too concerned to help his friend with the capture of the attacker. "She needs to be checked over!"

Shane carefully wrapped his arm around Anna's back and scooped his other arm under her knee's to lift her from the damp ground she had inevitably landed on. "She'll be fine!"

Don was taken aback by his friend's curt answer. He'd expected Shane to be more concerned for the well-being of Anna. But obviously, something was amiss. "I'm calling an ambulance, whether you like it or not. Then I'm calling Mac. He can bring a team down here to figure out who's responsible for this."

"We don't need that! I can look after her! Probably just some muggers thinking she had something good on her!"

Don, taking one sceptical look at his friend, decided to ignore this.

Anna was drifting in and out of consciousness, not able to intervene in the conversation and give her own opinion on what should be done. It was more of a reason for Don to call 911. Shane looked carefully at his sister. Blood was freely running from her nose. Her blouse was drenched with rain and crimson blood. She looked as though the men were out to kill her with their bare hands. Watching as Danny ran up to the group empty handed and Don quickly dial his phone, Shane reluctantly began to agree with the decision.

Quietly, he whispered softly "Don't worry Anna; I'll make sure you're okay."

* * *

After the terrifying ordeal, Anna was sleeping. After several checks, x-ray's and stitches, the worst of the damage was two broken ribs on the left side of her body. Though the blood had been cleaned off her skin, the vivid bruises that the attackers had left made her look no better than when they had found her. She looked pale. She looked fragile and Shane was too concerned than to leave Anna alone. He'd camped out till morning the hospital's waiting room, and by six just after the sun had come up he was finally allowed to see her.

Taking her hand gently in his, he rubbed rhythmic circles on her palm, hoping he wouldn't wake her, but that she knew someone was there keeping her company.

"Mac has sent Detective Bonasera to take samples. I'm sorry Shane, you're goin' to have to leave the room for this." Don said quietly, taking on his detective role.

"I won't take long." Stella Bonasera, another Crime Scene Investigator responded.

Reluctantly, Shane placed his sisters' hand on the bed by her side and stood from the uncomfortable hospital chair. "I don't care how long you take. Just make sure you thorough. I want this bastard behind bars." He then stormed out of the room, not without whipping his coat off the back of the chair beforehand. Stella raised her eyebrow at Don, wondering if he knew anything about his friends behaviour.

"Don't look at me, he confuses me at the best of times. But even more so now."

"How'd you mean?"

Don settled himself down in the seat, speaking in whispers so not to wake Anna. "Last night, Danny ran off to catch the guys and I stopped with Shane to make sure she was okay. He seemed pretty reluctant to bring her here. He was reluctant to get a team in to scan the place for evidence. Now this morning he's saying he wants these guys behind bars. Something's not right."

"The mind works differently when you panic. Maybe he was just so flustered he didn't want to believe it was as bad as it evidently is." Stella replied, opening her kit. She pulled out the necessary tools to get scrapings from under the finger nails. She knew any trace would have been washed off during the cleaning and bandaging of the wounds. "Don, maybe you shouldn't work on this case-"

Don sighed, standing from the seat as he began to pace the length of the room. "Mac has already talked to me about this. I know how I'm 'emotionally involved'. I just need to do this."

"You care about her a lot, huh?"

Looking to the girl in the bed, Don nodded, "I'm close to the whole family. Her older brother and his wife still live a few doors down from my folks."

Stella shook her head, "Don, this is more than being close to their family. You've been calling the hospital every hour to check how she was doing. You nearly took off before we'd finished at the scene just to come here. If Danny hadn't of stopped you-"

"She's a friend. Her brother's my best friend." Don argued. "I'll head out. There must be some update-"

A slight cough from the hospital bed distracted Don from his sentence. Quickly, he rushed over to Anna watching as her eyelids began to flutter open. "Anna?"


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One - Life is a Maze

Brandon Maguire, being the eldest of his 'pack' always acted as the leader. He was strong, quick to defend the ones he loved, and even quicker to help them when they were in need. Which is why, instead of opening up the bar on a Thursday night, he spent the night with his sister who had been discharged from Lenox Hill after being an in-patient for five days. It was her first night at home, and though she had not agreed to spending a few nights at the old family home with Brandon and Mel, Brandon felt the need to at least spend a few hours with his sister to make sure she settled back into her apartment.

"Do you need anything? Food, drink? I'll order you a pizza if you want…the usual?"

Anna shook her head with a small smile. "Bran, I'm fine. I have some microwave meals in the freezer. I can go out tomorrow myself and stock up." Brandon began sifting through the freezer, shaking his head as he picked up each ready meal. He was obviously not happy about something. "What now?"

"This ain't food!"

"Fine, I'll order a Pizza. But I think I can manage to pick up the phone myself, so you can go." Anna took the phone off the breakfast counter and began to dial the number of the pizzeria down the road. The number had been imprinted into her memory which just shows how much unhealthy food she has eaten in the past.

"Order me a pepperoni, would ya'?"

"To go to your house?"

"No, here."

"Hi!" Anna turned away from her brother and ordered herself a ham and mushroom thin and crispy pizza, and then loudly enough so Brandon heard asked, "Also, could my brother Brandon also have a pepperoni. Yeah, he'd like that delivered to his address. You have it on file."

"What are you doing-"

"Getting you out of my apartment!" Anna whispered furiously with a wicked grin gracing her lips. "You know, Mel will probably want something too. Could you also deliver a Margarita to their address?" She listened to the response on the other end of the phone. Grinning again, she happily replied. "Thanks, that's great. He'll be at home by the time you get there…Thanks, bye!"

"Anna!"

"What? Now you and Mel can have a nice meal together. But I'd get flying if I was you. He said it wouldn't take long to get there." Anna giggled as she watched Brandon grab his coat and storm out of the apartment. Brandon was not one to miss out on a Pizza. But Anna could tell he was torn between his tasty treat, and looking after her. But Anna was adamant she didn't need looking after.

Settling down on the sofa in front of her old TV, she wrapped her arm tenderly round her ribs which had been bandaged to support them, and quicken recovery time. On the surface, she wanted to get back into her normal routine. But with a compulsory one month paid sick leave, she knew that wasn't going to happen any time soon. Deciding to spend her free time concentrating on the bar, she knew she could make up some sort of routine to follow. Some sort of routine to distract her mind away from what happened.

Any Maguire could tell you, each and every one of them acted tough to keep the reputation that was set by their father and his brothers, but none of them were willing to express how deep down, they could be fragile, they could be scared. Once the façade was built, it was hard to let it down. And now Anna was alone in her two-bedroomed apartment, she couldn't help but worry.

Suddenly, the bell from the coded door leading out on to the street sounded. "Pizza already…?" Anna whispered while looking to the clock, noting it had barely been five minutes since finishing her phone call. She thought it may be Brandon coming back having forgotten something, but then thinking against that knowing he knew the code to the downstairs door. Slowly raising herself off the sofa, keeping her arm around her ribs to support them, she headed to the inner door of her apartment. Pressing the button which linked to the intercom down on the street, questioningly she said, "Who is it?"

"It's Don."

Scrunching her eyebrows together in confusion, she invited him up. Opening the second door which partitioned the stairs from her apartment, she smiled slightly, though still confused. "Is there a problem?"

Finally, on the last step he raised his head to lock eyes with the fiery red-head. He towered over a foot above her. And he could laugh knowing she had to strain her neck to look up at him when they were stood so close. "There's no problem. Just thought I would come see how you were."

"Okay, thanks. But it's really not needed. I'm fine."

Don ignored her, letting himself pass her into the apartment. He looked round in awe. It had changed since Shane had lived there. It had changed since Don hung round there regularly. "Wow, you really improved this place. New kitchen?"

"Don?"

He spun round, noticing her cocked eyebrow and how her smile had turned sour.

"You saw me when I first woke up, then disappeared and never came back to visit me. Now you're turning up out of the blue to see if I'm okay?"

Don bowed his head, "I've been busy on your case. If I kept coming to see you my superiors would have thrown me off it and I didn't want that to happen. I want to find this guy. And why I'm here now… I just needed to talk to you about something. Off the record…"

"What?"

"I need to talk to you about Shane." Don replied solemnly. He was unsure when he had been driving over to Anna place whether or not to discuss his concerns with her. But he knew Anna. He'd had a past with her. She'd always be willing to help. Now, whether she knew the answers to what he was about to ask her was doubtful, but maybe she could help him place the pieces into place. "Has he been involved in anything unusual lately?"

"Illegal, unusual? Or piss your pants funny, unusual?"

"Illegal."

Anna scowled. It was instinctive reaction to defend her brother. "What do you mean, Illegal? You know this family hasn't dealt with stuff like for a long time. How dare you come here asking me that? Implying we're some sort of dirty con artists."

"Anna, he didn't want to take you to hospital. He's been hanging round me more than usual this week. I think the people who attacked you might have been sending a warning to him. And he's hanging round to make sure I, or anyone else down at the station for that matter, finds out about it. Look, Anna if he is doing something, or he has got himself into trouble I need to know. I could help him get out of it. He could give us information and we could take down whoever it is."

"That's a big story you've made up, Flack! And, no. I don't know if he's up to anything like that. But if you have any sense left in you, you'll drop it until you find the evidence to make accusations like that." Anna walked to the sofa, grunting slightly in anger as she sat down for the second time that night. "I think you should go now."

"Anna, please."

"No, Don."

Don ignored her again, something he had learned to do a long time ago. Instead, he sat on the coffee table in front of her. Looking directly at her, using a technique he had learned through years of interrogation, "Anna, I want to make sure your safe. That is my only concern right now. And even if it is just to rule out that theory, then it will be one last thing on my mind." He waited for a reply, but when Anna only turned away from him, he responded, "I know you don't want to think of your family doing things like that. And I know how close you are too them."

"I don't know anything, okay. Ask someone else. I don't want to talk about this anymore."

Don nodded and slid into the sofa beside her. He held out his hand until she put her own into his. Giving it a reassuring squeeze, he said "We'll find them eventually, Anna. Don't worry. And don't give me a load of crap about how your fine, cause I know when you're not."

"I am fine…Anyway do you want a drink? I have Pizza on the way if you want to stay and have some." Letting go of his hand, she grabbed the remote to change the channel. "I think that film is on too, you know the one where Gerard Butler is controlled by that geeky teenager?"

"Look, I guess I should get going."

"Why?"

"You need your rest. I've caused too much trouble for one night as it is." Don stood up, leaving a slightly warm patch on the couch which Anna was so tempted to curl up into and headed for the door. "You need anything, just call me okay?"

Anna smiled, "I could do with someone to help me finish a ham and mushroom Pizza in about five minutes."

"You wanted me to leave a minute ago"

"I know; I just get wound up easily, especially when it comes to defending Shane and Brandon. You know that. When Shane's here you'll stay all night till I'm practically kicking you out. And you piss me off those nights too. Now, I'm not saying that should be the case tonight, but you can stay for a little while." She tapped the place on the couch next to her. Smiling her wicked grin, she countered the argument she was sure he was about to make, "The bar isn't even open tonight so don't think about making an excuse to go see my brothers"

* * *

Beer cans were scattered across the coffee table and the floor. The pizza had been left half eaten. And Anna was half asleep resting against don's shoulder. She'd drank half a can, and then given up knowing what the effect of alcohol and he medication could do. Don however, had continued drinking until he realized he would now be catching a cab home instead of driving. They had laughs, making fun of silly programs they had found while flicking through channels, and remembering times from when they were kids living only a few houses away from each other.

"Anna…" Don whispered, stroking her flame red hair down her shoulder. "Anna, I think you're ready for a kip."

Anna grumbled, shifting so she was tucked under his arm and resting against his chest. Thankfully, this made it easier to pick her up, using his free arm to scoop under her knees and moving his other arm to cradle round her back. She was light, and it was hardly any strain to get to his feet. "I don't need sleep" Anna grumbled, squirming slightly till she relaxed into his arms, and sighed having given up the useless fight.

Don, knowing the apartment well having spent several nights there with Shane, knew exactly which bedroom to take her too. It was decorated in a Crimson red, a colour Anna had picked due to her problem off sleeping if there is any light. And it was furnished with a black metal bed with decorative curls and a pattern work, mahogany dressing wardrobes and dressing table. Carefully manoeuvring the duvet so he could place her down on the mattress, he watched as she gently opened her eyes. "Thanks" She whispered.

"I knew you needed rest." He sat on the edge of the bed and pushed a strand of hair from her face, "You just need some company, huh? I know you try and act it, but you're not all that tough."

She smiled, "True. But don't tell anyone."

"Don't worry, I won't."

It was at that moment; Don realized maybe he was more concerned about her than the usual victim of crime. Not just because she was his friends sister. But maybe he was feeling something he'd never want to admit to anyone. He left that night, catching a cab a few streets over from the bar having locked the door and posting the key through the letterbox.

He couldn't tell anyone. Not unless he found out how Anna felt. Or he would have to deal with the Maguire brothers protecting their youngest sibling.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two – Love is a Riddle

"You owe me, Maguire."

Shane shook his head, "Since you pulled your little stunt and put my sister in Hospital, cops have been round our family twenty-four seven. What do you expect me to do? I get caught, you get caught. We'll all be in the shit. Just, let's back-off for a bit until the cops give up their case. Then we can move in, get what you want I can get out of this whole thing."

Meanwhile, Anna Maguire was sat down at the bar working away on her laptop, figuring out a plan to save the family bar from being sold to someone who was going to turn the property into some modern nightclub that would force Anna to move out of her apartment. "I know some guys who could play live. Have certain nights for different local bands. It would be a good gimmick to pull in people. Even if the band only had a small fan base, surely some people would want to come see them play."

Jason Hodgson, an employee Shane had taken on three years ago looked sceptical. "Wouldn't that drive the regulars away?"

"Maybe that needs to be done. We need a new crowd in here. All our regulars are lonely middle aged men who don't bring anyone else here. A younger crowd might bring friends, partners…It's just a thought."

"Shouldn't Shane be making the effort here? You haven't worked here since you got your job at the hospital."

Anna nodded, but countered his argument with a well explained answer. "Someone else buys this place; I could have to move out of the apartment upstairs. Which seeing as Shane would be getting the money from the sale; I would have to move back in with him, or Brandon. And I love my brothers, but I cannot deal with living with them again. And that's only the tip of the iceberg. This place was restored by our dad. I want to keep it in the family. I want it passed on to the next generation. It would make a nice profit if only a few changes were made. And while I'm on sick leave, I might as well spend some time trying to do it."

"Fair enough" Jason went back to wiping out glasses for when the bar opened that night. "You could try advertising more. You know, flyers, local radio ads, dressing up and parading the streets while shouting how good this place is…"

"Maybe you should dress up and do that. Or dress down. I'm sure you'll pull in some ladies parading around without a top on." Anna grinned wickedly. "Then take off your pants and put on a real show. Coyote ugly, but were the ladies will wanna watch what's going on more than the men."

"Is that your fantasy?"

Anna giggled, but replied, "No, my fantasy is to keep this place in business; no matter what."

"You said you didn't want to go down that road…" Stella said softly as she walked toward Don's desk which was located at the back of the 'bull pen'. She had caught Don in the act of looking at an old photograph. One she recognised to be the Maguire's, and the Flacks all squeezed into one frame. They were all shoving each other playfully, trying to get more noticed.

"What? No, I'm just…I don't know what I'm doing." Don sighed honestly, knowing his female CSI friend not only had women intuition but the ability to place pieces together skilfully from working in forensics. "I guess you just made me think."

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" Stella grinned at her own playful joke while sitting down across from the Detective. "On a serious note, the traces we took from under Anna's finger nails are human epithelia's. Trouble is, there was no hit in CODIS. We're running out of evidence to find this guy Flack."

"There must be something else. CCTV?"

"Brandon Maguire already supplied us with tapes from the bar. The men are always wearing masks. Even as they waited for her, they never took them off. I'm sorry to tell you Don, but there is no more evidence. We've looked at every possibility." Stella smiled reassuringly, "Mac wants to have twenty-four hour police surveillance on Anna. For protection, and hopefully point us in the direction of her attacker."

"She won't agree to it. She's too stubborn to show weakness and accept help."

Stella understood, having suffered at the hands of her ex-boyfriend Frankie. After the attack, Stella wanted nothing more than to be left to deal with it on her own. To get everything back to normal and to forget it all had happened. "Talk to her. Explain its for our case, not because we think she needs protecting. Try and spin the proposal so it might be something she could agree to."

"That might just work." Don replied, smiling slightly at his friend. "That's a good idea."

"Now, you wanna talk about why you were looking at that picture?" Stella smiled wickedly, knowing Don would be less than willing to talk about his feelings. She knew the Detective was set on acting the 'cliché' macho. "Look, just talk to her about it. You never know, you might just get somewhere."

"She's a friend."

"That's how the best relationships start off. Sometimes you just got put yourself out there and take that risk. Or you don't have to do that, but you will always wonder what would have happened if you did."

"It's only been 11 months since…" Don cleared his throat trying to clear the emotion from his voice "Since I lost Jess."

"Jess wouldn't have wanted you to mope around all your life. We all miss Jess, I know it has been hard for you, but you don't need to feel guilty about caring for someone else." Stella reached over and wrapped her and around Don's, giving it a tender squeeze of reassurance. "I know that Anna, having been so close to you since you were young, would know that no one could replace Jess. But you need to get some happiness back in your life. You haven't been the same since it happened."

"…When I'm ready, it will come natural. But seeing as I'm over thinking this whole thing, then maybe I'm not." Don replied. "I'll take a look at that CCTV again. Refresh my memory. Maybe something will stick out at me and get us a lead." Stella nodded, and in silence she left the desk and walked out of the precinct, back to the crime lab. Unfortunately, Don was feeling worse than when she had arrived. These guys could still be after her. Or they could already be planning their next move on how to get Anna.

Walking into the office at the back of his bar, Shane was disheartened to see his little sister fixating on the door that led to the Alley. It was bolted, as always unless it was being used, like to take out trash or to escort a problem punter out. "You're staring at that door like it will reach out and hit you." The light hearted joke made Anna flinch at first, as she had not realised someone had walked into the room. But the a dark scowl spread across her face. "You're safe here, Anna."

"Where have you been?" She shot back, her anger flaring. "This place is costing more to run that it's paying out and you don't seem to give a shit."

"I'm working on it!"

"Yeah, how?" Anna shouted, before taking a few seconds to calm her down. "Where are you getting your money from, Shane? Don't bullshit me either. You hang round here all day then disappear at random times before turning up to run this place. Where do you go? What are you doing that is getting you money?"

"I- Eh, I-…I just get it okay? It's not your problem."

Before Anna could attack him with another aggressive reply, there was a knock on the office door before Don stepped in. "I'm not interrupting am I?"

"I was just leaving." Shane said curtly, unbolting the heavily bolted door and escaping into the alley.

"I came to speak to you anyway." Don watched as Anna hurried over to the door, locking ever single bolt that was fixed to the door. Once done, she rested her head against the cold metal that encased the wood. A precaution Shane had taken shortly after the robbery that killed their father. "you okay?"

"I asked him."

"What?"

Anna turned round, sighing dramatically. "I asked Shane about where he kept going when he wasn't here, and where he was getting his money from. I never told you this place wasn't making a decent profit. Yet, Shane isn't asking me or Brandon to lend him the cash when he needs it. He must be getting his money from somewhere."

Don closed his eyes and swallowed, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't want to know if he's doing something wrong. I don't want to know that that's the reason I got attacked." Anna took a deep breath and closed her eyes, willing for the tears not to flow. She didn't want to let her emotions show. Not in front of Don. She'd already admitted it. But showing emotion was different than just talking about it. "I always trusted him. He was the one to make sure I was safe at school. He was the one to make sure no one was violent towards me. I don't want to think that something he has done has…has caused someone to hurt me."

Detective mode was clearly present in Don's voice as he quickly replied, "We will have to look into it."

"Can you not talk to me like I'm one of your damn victims down at the station? This is your best friend, my brother where talking about! Not some common criminal!"

Don walked over to her and instinctively enveloped her into a hug. He loved how perfectly she fit into his arms. It felt so natural, yet he knew better than to think like that as she was going through such a troublesome time. She was still vulnerable, emotional and not thinking straight. Rubbing rhythmic circles across her back, he spoke comforting words. "I know this is hard for you. But I'm gonna try and make it easier. I'm gonna make sure your safe. Shane might be able to give us information. If he co-operates he won't be charged if that is the case."

"I can't lose Shane." She whispered against his chest.

Don held her tighter, "I'm not gonna let you lose him. I promise you that."

Anna looked up, her eyes filled with tears. "Thanks."

Don wiped a tear from her cheek and smiled "It seems I have an effect on you lately. This is the first time I've seen you so emotional." Her deep sapphire eyes danced with amusement, before she blinked away the tears. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I will be."

Don loosened his grip, but then realized Anna was still clinging tightly to him. Her arms were wrapped round his waist, and her face was once again buried into his chest. Don needed to tell her he was due back at work, but his heart wouldn't let him. His heart was telling him to comfort her as long as she needed. It seemed as though he wanted to stay like this forever. But work couldn't wait. Not with this new development. He was getting closer to finding the perpetrator. "Anna, I have to go."

Suddenly realising, Anna let go of him. "Yeah, sure. You got stuff you need to do, huh?"

Don nodded and headed for the door slowly. Before leaving, he spun round to face the fiery-red head. She had slumped against the desk, her eyes cast towards the floor. Her mascara had run slightly down her cheeks from the tears, yet he didn't care. Anna her hair was tousled were he had been rubbing her back. She looked so upset, and it killed him to have to walk away. "We're putting police surveillance on you. It's to help the case." Anna was about to reply, but Don swiftly continued "I'll call you once I finish my shift."

"Shane, I'm asking you as a friend. This could be the difference between the case being closed to lack of evidence and finding the guys who did this to Anna" Don was pleading now for an answer to his question. Maybe something that would affirm or dismiss his theory. But Shane, being to over protective, angry Maguire brother was soon interrupting the subject with an entirely new topic.

"Why are you even on this case Don? Why are you visiting Anna nearly every day?" He slammed his fist on the table, getting the attention of many other customers who occupied the coffee shop were they had met up. "You're getting a little too involved with her!"

Don shook his head, his crystal blue eyes flaring in anger. "I'm looking after her. Something I haven't seen you do since this all started. I'm giving you this option to tell me first. But if you really want, we can arrest you and have this conversation down at the station. What's it to be Maguire? Do you really want to upset Anna by being arrested because all the detectives on this case are suspicious that you may have something to do with it?"

Shane took a sip of his black coffee before replying, "All the detectives, or just you?"

Don was seething. He'd never seen his friend so cocky and dismissive. Especially towards himself. He couldn't understand why he was so adamant to talk, or why he was so relaxed when it came to helping his sister. Angrily, Don stood from the table while throwing a few dollars onto the table to cover his half of the bill. "I'll give you twenty-four hours to come and talk to me in private about this. After that, I will get a warrant for your arrest."

Around 5 o'clock Anna had shoved on her coat, scarf and gloves, ready to go out to the shops to grab some much needed food. However as she opened the inner door of her apartment, she received a punch to the face. Falling backwards onto the carpet she groaned in pain. A tall woman with long black hair, a wicked smile and emerald green eyes stepped in, followed by three muscular men. She grinned, "It's a shame the code to this place hasn't been changed since I was getting with your brother."

It hit Anna like a ton of bricks. The woman was Amelia. Amelia Vianni-Sassone. She was the half-sister of the infamous Sonny Sassone, who was considered to be the leader of the Tanglewood Boys before he was sent to jail for murder. Anna squirmed back slightly. The Sassone's were the one family who terrified her. The one family she had once regrettably been associated with in her mixed up teenage years. "What do you want?"

"Oh Anna, you still haven't realized?" The raven haired beauty turned to her escorts. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

The men began to approach Anna, and she began to realize just what they were in her apartment for. Scrambling to her feet she ran to her bedroom, barely escaping the clutches. She slammed the door shut and locked it as fast as she could, but within less than a second, the men began to hit, kick and break down the door. Panicking for her life, Anna took her cell phone out of her coat pocket, but before she had a chance to dial any number, her phone began to ring. It was Don.

"Don! Help me!"

Don was shocked, he had not expected it, "What-"

"Sassone; It's the Sassones!" Before Anna had a chance to explain, her door was demolished at the muscular men had tackled her to the ground. Two held her down as another brought out a long needle. Anna squirmed and pushed, trying to get free. She screamed in frustration and fear, kicking out to try and get free. But it was useless. They were too strong for her. Everything seemed as though it was moving in slow motion. The man held out the needle and handed it to Amelia. She grinned, before kneeling down by Anna's side. Then with one swift move, the needle was pushed into her arm.

It took less than ten seconds for Anna to feel drowsy. And before she knew what was happening, she was fully sedated and unconscious.


End file.
